The All Powerful Mutt Tamer

Chapter 6

Julian stood in the center of the training yard, his arm still frozen in a pointing gesture. He looked like a statue of a fool. 

The crowd was so silent that the distant sound of a bird felt like a thunderclap. 

His Flame Lion—the pride of the Hummer family, an S-tier beast that was supposed to be invincible—was gone. 

It had tucked its tail and run like a beaten street cur, leaving a trail of melting frost on the stone floor.

"Lion? Flare? Get back here!" Julian finally croaked, his voice cracking. He reached into his belt and pulled out a handful of high-grade fire crystals, the kind that cost more than a year of Alex’s tuition. "I have your favorite treats! Come back!"

But the only response he got was a silent defiance that echoed his defeat.

Julian’s face went from pale to a ghostly white. He turned toward the shadows where his beast had vanished, then back to Alex. 

The arrogance that usually sat on his face like a crown had been shattered into a thousand pieces.

He knew the implication of not having a beast in a society that was built on the beast system.

He knew the high hopes that his parents had for him after hearing the news of his high classes beast.

And without one, all their money, wealth and influence was nothing at the end of the day.

The moment realization hit him, his legs cobbled like jelly.

Julian’s knees hit the dirt, his silk robes soaking up the dirt of the floor.

 "Revert it," he whispered, his eyes wide and bloodshot. "Whatever trick you used, whatever poison you gave him... undo it. My father will kill me if he sees the Lion in that state… Please.”

Everyone gasped at those words.

The elites weren't people to beg, they demanded whatever they needed from people that were just a step below their class.

But someone as broken as Julian didn't care about status anymore… He only wanted his beast back.

Alex stopped walking. He didn't turn around immediately. He let the silence stretch, letting Julian marinate in his own fear. When Alex finally looked back, his expression was as flat as a grave marker.

"Revert what, Julian?" Alex asked, his voice smooth and cold.

 "I’m just a lowly scavenger, remember? A zero-star crap. You told everyone here that I was below worthless. If I’m that pathetic, how could I possibly affect a great S-tier beast like yours?"

"You did something!" Julian scrambled forward on his knees, reaching out to grab the hem of Alex’s tunic.

Alex stepped back, letting Julian face-plant into the mud. "Don't touch me. You might get 'poverty' on your hands. Since you’re so talented and your family is so powerful, why don't you fix it yourself? Use all that money you love to brag about."

The students who had been cheering for Julian only minutes ago now scrambled away as Alex walked past; they tripped over each other to get out of his path.

 The fear in their eyes was different now. It wasn't the fear of a bully; it was the fear of the unknown.

 They looked at the Shadow Stalker—the pitch-black beast walking silently in Alex’s shadow—and saw a predator they couldn't understand.

Julian scrambled to his feet, his face twisted in a mix of terror and returning rage. The desperation had reached a boiling point, and he defaulted back to the only thing he knew: his name.

"You think this is over?" Julian screamed, his voice shaking with a manic edge.

 "Do you have any idea who my father is? The Hummer family controls half the resources in this county! We own the mines, the herb gardens, and the very ground you're standing on! If I want you dead, you’ll be dead before sunset!" He yelled at Alex with all the veins on his neck popping out.

“Revert your doings now or I will make your…”

Alex didn't even slow down; “Tell us something we don't know already Julian, It’s boring."

"I'm serious!" Julian roared, his face turning a dark, bruised purple. "I will burn your family's house to the ground! I will make sure your parents spend the rest of their lives in a dungeon! Make my beast normal again, or I will kill you myself right here!"

"Whine all you want," Alex called back over his shoulder. "It won't bring the cat back. Maybe you should spend less time threatening me and more time learning how to wash your own boots."

Julian let out a guttural, animalistic shriek. He couldn't take it anymore—the humiliation, the loss of his beast, the total dismissal from someone he considered sub-human. He didn't use a beast. He didn't call for guards. He drew a hidden dagger from his sleeve and lunged at Alex’s back, his eyes rolled back in a fit of blind murder.

Ding!

[Warning: Hostile movement detected from the rear.]

[Analyzing trajectory... Counter-measure ready.]

Alex didn't need to turn around to feel the air shift. 

The System had already fed the data directly into his nerves. As Julian’s blade swung toward his ribs, Alex spun on his heel with a speed that shouldn't have been possible for a scholarship student.

His fist caught Julian square in the jaw.

 There was a sickening crack of bone on bone. 

The force of the blow lifted Julian off from his feet. 

Julian’s body flew backward, soaring through the air like a discarded ragdoll before slamming into the stone wall of the training hall.

He hit the masonry with a heavy thud and slid down, half unconscious before he even hit the ground. The dagger clattered harmlessly away.

Alex wiped his knuckles on his pants, not even breathing hard. "I told you to stop whining."

The instant Alex turned around, and their eyes crossed paths, he could feel a cold evil piercing deep into his heart and he froze and he passed out and dissolved into the shame that had overwhelmed him, twice.

He didn't wait for the guards to arrive or for the crowd to recover from their shock. He turned and headed straight for the students dorms.

He reached his room—Room 104—and pushed the heavy wooden door open. 

Alex stepped inside, ready to drop onto his thin mattress, but he stopped dead.

The room wasn't empty.

Sitting on the edge of his bed was a girl. She looked around his age, dressed in an outfit that screamed high-tier nobility and his heart pounded on his chest.

Alex stared at the girl sitting on his bed, her delicate sleek like skill, her bulging boobs, and her perfect hour glass shape, it was impossible not to look at.

"Greduant Academy?" Alex repeated, his voice flat. He recognized the crest on her torn sleeve—it was from the rival institution three counties over. 

“Even if you are the cleaner, don't you know how to mop?” The girl rolled her eyes with utter disgust.